Electronics recycling at county fairgrounds

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State Sen. Tim Solobay, along with state Rep. Pam Snyder, the Greene County commissioners and Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania, are reminding residents that an upcoming electronics recycling event will provide a convenient opportunity to reduce clutter and comply with a new state law.

The recycling event will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. July 20 at the Greene County Fairgrounds, Waynesburg.

The popularity of previous events has forced organizers to limit to two the number of televisions that can be recycled by each family.

“We’re very excited to provide this opportunity for the residents of Greene County,” Solobay said. “Previous recycling efforts have been a great learning experience for our partners and local residents.”

Pennsylvania law now prohibits disposal of many electronics items in residential trash and the upcoming event is aimed at helping residents understand how to protect the environment. Among the items barred from household trash collection under Pennsylvania’s Covered Device Recycling Act are computers, printers, televisions and similar electronic devices.

“The changes in the law were necessary to protect the environment from new threats introduced by modern technology,” Snyder said.

“Holding a big, public program is a good way to help residents understand and comply with the latest regulations.”

“Greene County government has long promoted recycling as a way to protect the environment, create jobs and reduce the cost of waste disposal,” said Chuck Morris, Greene County commissioners’ chairman.

“The commissioners are eager to keep up with new challenges and this event is part of that effort.”

Electronic devices contain heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium and mercury that could remain dangerous for decades if dumped in landfills.

A typical cathode-ray computer monitor could contain as much as seven pounds of lead.

“As the law keeps up with changing technology, it’s important for public officials to help residents however they can in keeping up with the law,” Solobay said.

“It will be a never-ending effort to make sure that what we use isn’t a threat to our soil and our streams when we’re done using it.”

Computers are either disassembled and recycled or are refurbished to be sold at Goodwill stores.

Donating a computer not only helps keep e-waste out of landfills and helps families buy used electronic products at an affordable price, but also brings the “power of work” to someone in your community.

Goodwill is not responsible or liable for personal data on hard drives or other storage media. Newer computers have the hard drives wiped exceeding Department of Defense standards and the hard drives of older computers are destroyed, but ultiimately Goodwill cannot take responsibility for confidential information.

If you wish to remove data before donating, a number of free services are available online that will completely erase hard drives.